New School, Research Facility Combat Autism

By Amy Mikel in News on Aug 7, 2008 9:32PM

A new school has opened in Chicago’s Medical District. The Easter Seals Therapeutic School and Center for Autism Research, a $32 million project, is specifically designed to meet the special needs of students with autism, emotional behavior disorders and severe learning disabilities.

The school will also double as a research facility; classrooms are equipped with unobtrusive viewing centers, and scientists will be studying the causes of and developing successful intervention techniques for the disorder.

This unique facility will be the only one of its kind to combine on a single campus educational, research, training, early intervention, school-to-work transition and independent living capabilities. Nowhere else in the country will this “continuum” of services for children with autism be so well integrated at a single campus facility.

The Chicago White Sox have pledged their support with a $1,000,000 donation, the largest direct contribution to the project. Ozzie Guillen, who stopped by the school yesterday to help celebrate the unveiling of the school’s new softball field, has pledged to serve as a celebrity spokesperson for the cause for autism.